


I'm No Stranger

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Abandonment, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Space family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 10:07:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3063887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ezra is no stranger to pain. And his new family was going to learn that, one by one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm No Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter(s) will focus on Ezra's relationship with the crew, specifically one at a time.  
> Story originally on fanfiction, under the same name.

Pain was not something he was unaccustomed too. It was everywhere - When he was ganged up on by thugs in the streets. When he got caught stealing. Or when he got sick and had no way to get food.

 

When he sat alone at night, wishing that this was all some horrible nightmare. That he would wake up and see his parents, safe and sound.

No, Ezra Bridger was no stranger to pain. But for some strange reason, the crew of the Ghost - The Family (the one that Ezra still wasn't quite sure he was a part of) aboard the ship somehow got it into they're heads that he was. That he didn't know how it felt to hurt.

 

They found out he did in some rather interesting ways.

* * *

 

                                                                     Hera : High Flyin' Moves

* * *

 

 

   When Ezra told Hera that he wanted to learn to fly her ship, she almost thought it was a joke.

Now, Hera was a rather giving person. But giving someone the go ahead to pilot her baby? Well, that's a bit different

After the empire took control it became an unofficial rule that schools teach students how to pilot, to an extent. At least the basics, anyways. (She would learn only later that he _didn't_ go to school).

When she had fist laid eyes on Ezra, one of the first things she noticed was that his outfit somewhat resembled pilot garb.    

Not that that particularly meant he knew the fist thing about flying a real ship. It turned out he did. Of course, he wasn't nearly as good a pilot as Hera was. But he knew enough that she would trust him flying her somewhere (but not in her own ship, of course).

She began to wonder, eventually, after she saw him pilot once, where exactly he learned to do so.After all, he never had the chance to go to school and learn to pilot. She never quite got the chance to ask him. The longer he stayed with them, the more she learned. The more the pieces started to click into place.

 _"I don't have any parents_ ," As smart as Hera is, the full meaning behind those words didn't quite shine through. 'All I know is surviving,' Was the true messege.

And it was a messege she missed for far too long. It took a while for it all to click together, and that final understanding came with a boom, blaster fire, a hell of a lot of yelling, a ton of lost credits, and a deal.

* * *

 

 

    They had gotten a job offer. It was risky, and daring. But if they succeeded, they'd have enough credits to live off of for months.

After much debate between Hera and Kanan, and a whole lot of weighing the pros and cons, they'd excepted the job. The plan was complicated, but it wasn't nearly as dangerous as some last minute plans they'd come up with (facing the inquisitor on a deserted moon?).

   Everyone had a part to play, and that part was to be played right (as Kanan put it). Ezra wasn't given the details, neither was Sabine (needless to say she was not happy) or Zeb.

They were however, told that they weren't _only_ doing this job for the credits (Extra incentive, Ezra assumed).

They were also told that whoever had hired them for this job was paying. _A lot_.

  Ezra hadn't memorized the whole plan, but he knew his part like the back of his hand. As allways, they'd be utilizing the fact that Ezra took up about half the space everyone else did, give or take. He'd gone over his part of the plan top to bottom, side to side, and most of it was him squeezing into tiny spaces and getting info to the others.

From what he knew, he would never actually come into contact with the cargo. But instead get its location, and bring that information to Kanan.

He was a bit jealous, but not enough to actually voice his complaints. Ezra couldn't help it, anything worth the amount of credits they were getting for the job must be something to see. Ezra didn't think of himself as vain, not at all. But when you grow up on the streets, having extra money (or even enough) was a rarity. It definitely made him eager to make this mission a success. And as soon as possible.

They had waited outside the imperial base for hours. And when the coast was finally clear, Kanan, Zeb, Sabine and Ezra snuck aboard the transport ship, hiding in the cargo hold.

It was a few hours later when the ship finally took off, and that's when they're plan was set into motion.

The others waiting in the hold, Ezra crawled through the vents of the airship. It was a tight squeeze, but it wasn't the first time. He couldn't help but think bitterly that it probably wouldn't be that last either. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going, just that he had to find the captains quarters, where Kanan had told him he would find a chip with 'K30621-14' engraved on the side, apparently the chip contained the location of the cargo. He told Ezra that the chip would fit in his palm, but wouldn't be much smaller that that.

Ezra had absolutely no idea how Kanan knew all that, but he was more focused the on the fact that he had to find a considerably small chip in what was probably a huge room. And that was if he even found the room to begin with.

This was a lengthy mission, that was for sure. Ezra had to find the chip, get it to Kanan, get off the ship, and then they would have to find whatever cargo all this fuss was about.

Ezra was way to young to have this much on his plate. Or at least, that's what he grumbled around the flashlight he held between his teeth.

Then, a large boom sounded somewhere to his left, and a large shudder bounced him around in the closed space. All of a sudden he was plunged into darkness, as his flashlight was flung away from him. Another explosion sounded, and again. The shaking continued, and a wave of heat was shot in his face.

 

Well, at this point, he was ninety-nine point nine percent sure that their cover was blown.

Not worried about how much noise he was making, he crawled forward as quickly as he could, hoping to find some light. As luck would have it, he soon did, shining out from a vent to his right.

The hot air continually blowing into his face made his heart rate pick up, if only slightly. As he got within arms reach of the vent, the heat grew a bit more intense, and the light grew brighter. He reached back into his pocket and fumbled for a tool to remove the grate.

His fingers wrapping around the warm metal, he squeezed his arm back in front of him and began to remove the first screw. Just as if fell from the grate, a rough static sounded from his comm'. If he could have reached it, he would have responded. But with one arm removing the next screw and the other pinned between himself and the wall, he settled for answering after he was out of the vents.

"C'mon, c'mon!" He whispered harshly as he started to remove the third screw.

Another large explosion rocked the ship, and his right hand slipped, dropping the screw driver (which he heard clatter at least a few feet, then disappear) and slicing his palm across the grate. He gasped and swore as the shaking began to lessen.

Warm blood trickled over the creases in his skin, and clotted around the edges of his glove.

He wanted to hold his wounded hand to his chest, but he didn't want to stain anymore of his clothes than he already had, so he settled for simply squeezing his hand into a carful fist, cautious to keep his nails away from the cut.

Ezra couldn't tell if he was fascinated or terrified at the way the blood looked like oozing between his fingers in the dim light. He was was filled a feeling with something akin to disappointment upon the realization it wasn't the first time he'd seen the sight.

Ezra snapped himself back to reality, and fumbled for the screw driver in the darkness behind him, though he couldn't help but think it probably fell down some unseen shaft. If it was there, he couldn't reach back far enough to grab it in the tight space.

Groaning, Ezra dropped his head onto his forearm, which was still lain out ahead of him to keep the blood off his shirt. He was absolutely clueless as to what he was supposed to do now.

Go back the way he came? _Backwards?_

There was no way he was turning around without getting out first. Not to mention he'd be going without any light at all.

He felt trapped. It was foreword or back, and both seemed like an impossible task.

He sighed. Might as well start with the one closest.

For a moment, he just stared at the grates, not quite sure how to continue. He tried to turn the screw with his nail, but the screw didn't budge, and his nail bed began to ache.

He glared at the last screw, as if he could scare it into moving.

All of a sudden, a large boom sounded from behind him. He jumped, and slammed his head into the ceiling. The heat behind him suddenly became more intense than even the heat in front of him.

_'Forward it is, then.'_

Then he slammed his injured hand into the grate.

The metal shifted, being held on only by the bottom left corner. He hissed and he felt the imprints the metal rows left on his skin. Or maybe they were cuts, he wasn't really sure. He had just figured that if he was going to get cut, it might as well happen on the hand that was already near unusable.

He growled under his breath, and slammed his fist into the metal again. The heat from behind him beginning to make his legs itch with that tingly feeling.

The grate shifted again, though only a bit.

He would deny it if anyone ever asked, but at that moment, a light panic twisted his stomach, tightening his chest.

He slammed his hand into the grate again, and let out a groan when a snapping sound came from the metal, and it stopped moving.

The heat intensified further, it began to burn. And he was stuck.

He took a few more whacks at the grate, but it wasn't going anywhere.

It became clear at some point, that he could attempt to remove either the gate, or the screw, using the force.

He wished he could comm' Kanan right about then. He'd have some stupid, confusing as hell Jedi saying for advice. Something to make him try harder (although all he'd do is think it quite dumb). But at the moment, he couldn't quite say he would mind.

He tried to focus on removing the tiny piece of metal keeping him from escaping. And just as the heat behind him became unbearable, a groaning filled his ears, and the venting around him giving a great shudder, and then he was falling.

* * *

 

 

The first thing Hera noticed, was that she, aboard the Ghost, was not alone. It didn't take a genius to notice the ginormous air ship approaching form behind.

The second thing she noticed was that it wasn't coming for her.

No, it was heading towards the imperial ship that her family was on.

The only thing thing she could think was,

' _This is not good'_.

She tensed as the large ship passed her, no matter her skills, a ship four times the size of the Ghost at this proximity was just to much. But it simply kept on going, gliding right in past her. As if she wasn't even there.

From her new position behind the other ship, she examined what she could see. Glossy red plating contrasted with the deep black nothingness of space. That alone told her that it wasn't any imperial ship. At least, not one she's seen before. She hurriedly comm'ed Kanan.

"Specter two, to Specter one. Come in Spector one!" A faint static hissed out of the comm', then a voice.

 _"Specter Two, this is Spector One. What's the problem?"_ Hera couldn't tell if it was funny or sad that by now Kanan automatically assumed there was a problem when she comm'ed him. Unfortunately, there almost always was.

"You aren't planning on visitors, are you?" Somehow, out of her growing panic, she found humor.

_"..What are you talking about?"_

"We've got a ship approaching from behind. And it's no imperial ship either."

" _Pirates_?" She pretended not to hear the worry, and tinge of fear in his voice.

"Wouldn't surprise me." Who else would they be, approaching an Imperial ship this far out? They were either rebels or pirates. And the former was unlikely. Theres a key difference between rebels and pirates. That difference is that pirates steal for themselves, where rebels steal for themselves, but also others. Hearing only silence form the other line, she continued. "Do you want to continue with the plan? Or have me try to pick you up?" More silence. "Kanan...?"A shaky breath came over the line.

" _Ezra, he's alone in the ship. I've got...I've got no idea where he is."_ And then there was a stream of light, illuminating the cockpit Hera sat inside. And then, and explosion, and a large boom from over the comm'. And all Hera could do was stare as the ship that contained nearly everyone she cared about, was engulfed in light, and fire.

 


End file.
